Heroism is Overrated
by BullC6
Summary: In search of answers that he had almost given up on. Naruto embarks on an adventure with a young team that might lead him to the thread that unraveled his whole world.


**So, I am about to sleep at 4am and this Idea pops in my head that I can't get rid of. I had those before but for the first time there was an actual plan in my head and I just had to start writing. Now it's 7.30 and my day is going to go to shit. This just blew up in my own face didn't it? I don't have a beta so don't chew my head out if you notice some minor mistakes.**

 **Disclaimer: Naruto, I don't own. DC? I don't really care.**

 **Chapter 1: Dependence Day**

 **XXX**

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The night was young. It had to be said that even with all the corruption and tragedies that faced the city below him, it always seemed to bounce back on its feet somehow. The strategically located city sometimes felt like the most rotten place in the world. Still, there was a certain charm about Gotham that had never left his heart. The city was a mix of the Dutch architecture of the initial colonization mixed with a tasteful blend of futuristic buildings, apartment complexes and the filthy yet vibrant slums.

When he had first landed in this strange world he had nothing. He had lived in those slums. Meandering in the streets looking for answers. Answers that he prayed to kami would make even a semblance of sense. Dimension hopping thousands of universes and traversing the multiverse in search of its origin was a strange thing. Even with all of the power he had amassed both physical and otherwise over his "advanced" age, Uzumaki Naruto wished to never go through that experience again. It was nauseating beyond belief.

"Never thought that I would see you of all people attending a board meeting today," came voice of a man that entered the vicinity to break the idle thoughts of the blonde that had seen so many things in his unnatural life that they seemed unreal. As Naruto gazed upon the view of Gotham from the window of the Wayne Tower, he had to take a sigh before greeting the most stupendous child he had ever met in his entire life. That had to say a lot considering he used to have a couple of his own.

"Well kid, not all of us have the luxury of secret identities, fancy utility belts and those tech thingies to get anywhere we please…" a tick formed on the face of the man now identified as the Batman, "…and with these ageing bones of mine, it is really hard to get by you know. You don't have any time to visit me at all these days so I have to be the one who has to drag his ass to see you. I am too old for this shit."

"Don't give me that crap sensei. You may be older than me but you don't look a day over 25. I still don't get it and I am not talking about those illusions of yours that you always seemed to have when you trained me. One day I am going to find out how you _actually_ look exactly the same as the time that I actually met you. Two decades on!"

Bruce Wayne, son of Thomas and Martha Wayne, was not only the tragic survivor of the billionaire family; he was also the masked vigilante that terrorized the crime syndicate of Gotham and helped put a lid on all things evil in his city. But Naruto could give a rat's ass about the status or stature of the man in front of him. Laughing was only appropriate.

"Hahaha! Good luck with that."

"Are you challenging me?"

"Have you ever won?"

That left a bad taste in the caped crusader's mouth. He may be a kind hearted man, a philanthropist, a proponent of justice all over the world; but he was also a man that had a huge ego when it comes to figuring out weaknesses and defeating his foes. Simply because he was for one too smart, too powerful or too resourceful to deal with any kind of problem that was thrown his way. For God sake he was able to disable the _fucking_ Superman of all people if need be. But he was still nowhere near figuring out the true extent of the capabilities of the person named Uzumaki Naruto. An enigma that was too elusive by Batman's own standards. The man who had trained him in his formative years to become a true ninja, a Dark Knight.

"I…" Batman drawled after getting a hold on his rising temper, "…am really not in mood."

Naruto just walked his way to the middle of the huge office. He plopped down on the couch and happily started making vodka martini while humming an awfully familiar and irritating song to Batman.

"~She may hate me but it ain't no lie, baby bye, bye, bye…" Naruto stopped the humming that he knew was infuriating the standing superhero and popped an olive in his mouth as he stirred his drink. It was no firebrand Mount Myobokuzu sa'ke but it was still one of his favorite drinks in this world. As he took a sip of his cocktail, he loosened the black tie he was wearing underneath the two-piece, extremely overpriced, suit that he had to wear to attend the meeting.

"Man, I never get used to wearing these things. How do you _do_ it Batman- _chyan_? Do tell?"

"You don't really _have_ to. You are only a board member in name, which is not even your real one. Just keep globetrotting like you have been doing the past decade."

"Awww, did the little batty miss me? How is Alfred? Still haven't croaked I presume?"

Naruto smirked before dodging a fork that could have come from the only other person in the room, "Geez you are in a bad mood."

"I am in a bad mood because you never show your mug around anymore unless you have some kind of a play to make," Bruce narrowed his eyes, "I am just trying to figure out your end game here."

"No end game. No hidden agenda. No play. I just wanted to see how my fav pupil was doing that's all," he ignored Bruce's mumblings of " _more like your only pupil_ " and continued, "I hear you are running around with a protégé of your own these days. What's his name? Dick Grayson? I would like to meet my grand pupil someday you know!"

"Hah! I knew it."

"Knew what?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. Damn he didn't flinch.

"Nobody knows the true identity of Robin. You are spying on me!" If Batman could break dance right now or make hip thrusting motions without making a fool of himself, he would.

"Duh! I run the most sophisticated spy network in the world. You didn't think that I wouldn't be able to find out the identity of the child that is being trained by my own pupil, did you? Give your master some credit." Naruto ended up with a smirk.

"You are not, were never, and will never be my master," Naruto just waved him in a "you-kidding" way as he finished his drink and then poured another.

Bruce was scanning the whiskered face of the blond sitting in front of him. Even though he was just sipping martini from a glass, he still looked an intimidating and aloof figure. How he managed being so calm at one moment and spastic at another was another anomaly with the dimension hopper. Sometimes he even thought that the blonde ninja did these things on purpose to infuriate him.

Naruto on the other hand was having a great time. He was back in USA, his companies were doing well and he always had his ear to the ground. The ground where he got information that was actually useful to his dealings at large and keeping evils lurking in the shadows at bay. And here was the boy that had actually salvaged him from the despair that he felt every day when he remembered his perished world. He was so much like Sasuke in so many ways that it wasn't even funny. However, he also had what Sasuke lacked in many ways in his younger days, which was the fortitude to never sway from the righteous thing to do. Sure, he had his plethora of secrets but nothing was hidden to Naruto. He could sense the negative emotions swelling in Batman before they relented with him sitting beside Naruto.

"Fine. I give. I was already having a stressful day after cleaning up the mess caused by Wotan's yet another psychotic break. Then I go back to check on my protégé and those of some other heroes in the Justice League and find that they had banded together and broken into a Cadmus Research facility after I specifically told them not to," Bruce never really showed anyone his vulnerable side or the one that even got a little whiny, but with Naruto, not unlike Alfred, it was somehow very different.

"Go on," Naruto motioned for him to continue.

"I mean it was bad enough that they defied my orders, they then broke into a facility that was a certain deathtrap. If they hadn't converted Superboy in that underground fortress, they would have been most likely been dead." At the mention of the name Superboy Naruto's entire demeanor shifted. So those bastards at Cadmus had actually succeeded in making something like that. Interesting.

"And by _they_ you mean?" Naruto's eyes narrowed and gave him that traditional foxy look that donned upon his face whenever he was really thinking about something.

"Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash," Batman answered.

"Wait, what? Flash had a kid? And Aquaman had a lad? When did that happen?" Finally something. Now _Bruce_ had a smirk on his face.

"So, you know about Robin but you don't know about Kid Flash or Aqualad? I swear I heard about this really "sophisticated" spy network that some not-so-senile-coot just mentioned?" He actually did the quotation marks. Go figure.

"That is to spy on people that concern me and my business you jackass! And why would I want to know about what Flash or Aquaman do in their alone time?! Huh!" Naruto lost his carefully cultivated aloofness a little before settling down.

"Well for your information they are not their offspring but actually teenagers who happen to possess powers similar to theirs." Batman explained in his own studious, calculated way.

"Well I gotta see that!"

"Ahem! So before I was so _rudely_ interrupted…" Batman actually leveled a small glare Naruto's way.

"…They broke out with a genetically engineered clone of Superman who was artificially aged and actually had knowledge transferred to him psychically. Then after causing so much wanton destruction on their way out, they had the gall to ask to be made a team." Batman huffed.

"So why not make them one?"

"What? No way! They are too young and Robin's only thirteen."

"Yeah, a thirteen year old that has already killed, albeit accidentally, and has gone to God knows how many missions with you and others like him since he was nine. It is actually written in the wall when you think of it. I was thirteen when I actually had my first ninja team…" Naruto trailed off with melancholy in his voice. Somedays, the memories were too painful. Like today. The day after the anniversary of your planet's death.

"You still miss them don't you? Your teammates Sakura and Sasuke I mean?" Batman probably still knows next to nothing about the abilities of the first man that taught him, he did know all about his past life and even his real age.

"No Bruce. I miss everyone." Naruto said with a serious expression. And Bruce realized that Naruto had called him by his given name after such a long time that it felt…wrong, coming from his mouth.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Batman offered.

"Not right now. Right now I am interested in your protégé and the young talents that you heroes have cultivated while I was gone."

"I don't know about them being our protégés for long. They want to go on their own and don't want just to be our sidekicks. I mean, I understand Robin trying to have his own thing but I like having him around on missions, it's like I am not alone on this crusade of mine." Naruto leaned over and placed his hand on Bruce's shoulder. He understood what he was going through but he had to set his pupil straight.

"Well you are not alone. He will be around from time to time. Just let hime have his own thing. Heck if you need a sidekick, I will happily go along with you. How about it? Batman and…Ninja-Man!" Naruto draped his arm over Bruce's shoulder and made out the words with his hands in front and Bruce actually shuddered.

"No thanks. I want the criminals terrorized and in line. Not maimed and frothing at the mouth at your sheer presence alone."

"Meh it was worth a shot." Naruto chuckled as he got up to leave from the huge office at the top floor of the Wayne Tower. As he was about to get the door, he stopped and turned around.

"Say…I think I have an Idea. Care to listen?" And Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an agenda.

Naruto gave a smile that was too nice to be anywhere near on his face. Batman shuddered again.

 **XXX**

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"After careful consideration, The Justice League and I are in consensus that we shall approve the four of you becoming a team," Batman delivered the news to gathered Kid Flash, Aqualad, Robin and Superboy after they were taken to Mount Justice. All four of them seemed really happy that their hard work was being recognized by the team.

"Finally, I am being recognized for the amazing superhero that I am." That was Wally.

Superboy just gave a nod with a slight smirk on his face while Aqualad was just appreciative in silence.

Robin only had one thing to say "I am whelmed."

"However," Batman started again so that the four teenagers didn't get ahead of themselves, "there are certain conditions to you all being a team. First is that you will obviously have a supervisor in Red Tornado," As Batman said that, the red hulking android appeared in the cave through the zeta tubes, but he wasn't the only one. The tubes also signified four other arrivals that the team started eying. All four teenage superheroes started focusing their attention mostly on either of the female counterparts of the pair of green Martians and blondes.

"Hello, I will be taking care of you all," said the android in a tone that belied his statement which made _the team_ feelat least a teensy bit weird.

"Hi my name is M'gann M'orzz. I am Uncle J'onns niece. You can call me by my earth name Megan! Pleased to meet you all!" A very green looking niece of the person in tow with her tried to start a dialogue. Although, apart from being green the both didn't really look alike, like at all. Robin guessed that probably had something to do with the female Martian's ability to shape shift. The one with the brown hair and super speed looked a little too pleased to make her acquaintance.

"Black Canary will be your new teacher, training instructor and mentor. Dinah is a capable martial artist as most of you know or will find out in the future."

Canary stepped inside after appearing from the zeta tubes as well and waved hello to everyone with greetings that befitting an adult meeting their junior.

"As you can probably guess by now, you guys are going to be a part of a six member. The team's job is to do covert missions that are proactive in nature. The league also reserves the right to make changes to the team or approving changes made by the team members. M'gann M'orzz and the Uzumaki Naruto here will be a part of your six-man team." Batman ended with a bit of queasiness in his voice at announcing the name of the only male blonde in the cave at that moment. Queasiness which wasn't missed by a perceptive Robin.

After the novelty of meeting their new supervisor, teacher and Martian teammates worn off, a blonde Caucasian male with sun-kissed skin, wild unkempt hair, blue eyes and odd whisker marks appeared to the side of Batman. He was enjoying the interactions as a spectator so much that it showed clearly on his face. The only thing Robin wasn't able to put his finger on was that how a teenage boy with such an odd assortment of hair and facial features managed to stay in the backdrop during the entire conversation beforehand? It was like he his mind actually forgot that he was even there which shouldn't have been the case given that he was trained to keep a vehemently keen eye. He filed that tidbit to ask Batman away for later.

The blonde who looked like a teenager, much like the other members of the young team, was dressed in a very casual outfit. It consisted of an orange T-shirt, open black dress shirt with more orange patterns and a pair of navy blue jeans with a small pouch, also orange, hanging off the left hip. They also didn't miss a headband with a metal plate which was actually worn on his left bicep, adorning a weird swirly pattern on it. The _apparent_ teenager surveyed the whole room and the team of young super heroes now in front of him and gave a thousand watt grin.

"Hey guys I am Naruto! We will be having a _lot_ of fun from today onwards," his grin changed into a Cheshire smile which even made the Superboy uneasy. Somehow, the clone doubted that it was going to be anything but fun. Seeing the expression on his face, Robin started laughing.

 **XXX**

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 **A Side Note that should be ignored if you haven't read my other story:**

 **Namikaze Flash is not dead. I wrote the first six or seven chapters of that story when I barely started to write and they are either horrible or have some plot points that shouldn't be there for the story to go forward. I am working on figuring that out and also to have a more solid game plan in terms of the whole story because when I started writing that, Naruto's universe and story still had a lot of explaining left. Plus it was all just writing as it came along at the starting chapters. Seriously, I wouldn't even know what I wanted to do for the next paragraph. And it is just not fair to the story with a kickass premise like that which was the first of its kind when I started that story six or so years back.**

 **Bullc6 Out.**


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